Of course, most reporters at this time did not know if they wanted to produce 90-nanometer and 65-nanometer chips.
In fact, it is not necessarily necessary to use the fifth-generation immersion lithography machine technology. It is also possible to directly develop and use the fourth-generation ArF dry lithography machine technology.
Because the light source wavelength of the fourth-generation ArF dry lithography machine is 193nm, this 193nm light source wavelength can theoretically produce up to 65nm chips.
But we should not consider the short term when doing things, but also consider the long-term and even longer-term future development lines.
The fifth-generation immersion lithography machine technology is a magical technology. This technology was officially developed and launched in October 2003, and the first generation of immersion lithography machine products were launched.
At this time, although this fifth-generation immersion lithography machine already has many technical patent walls in front of it, it has not yet formed an iron-clad wall of technical patents that cannot be broken through like the previous generation.
At this time, Sugon Technology still has the possibility to bypass the patent walls of many immersion lithography machine technologies of ASML and TSMC, so it is better to enter the game in advance.
Otherwise, when ASML and TSMC register more and more patents on immersion lithography machines, and then completely become an iron wall that cannot be broken through, Sugon Technology will completely lose the research and development of the fifth-generation immersion lithography machine technology. possible.
Although it seems that even if the fifth-generation immersion lithography machine is lost, it is possible to directly develop the sixth-generation EUV lithography machine, this EUV lithography machine is actually equivalent to a new field.
The EUV lithography machine uses a 13.5nm extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light source and can process chips below 7 nanometers. In theory, it is better to directly launch the sixth-generation EUV lithography machine.
However, it is not easy to implement the actual EUV lithography machine. Currently, major companies around the world have been developing sixth-generation EUV lithography machines for several years.
However, according to previous history, the first commercial mass-produced EUV lithography machine that was truly commercially available was in 2019, which means that it took more than 20 years to develop the sixth-generation EUV lithography machine!
Therefore, it is not impossible to directly launch EUV lithography machines at this time, but it does not meet the chip production needs of the current era, and it is not easy to get results.
It took the West more than 20 years of research and development to put EUV lithography machines into mass production. At this time, Sugon Technology wants to take one or two years to put EUV lithography machines into practice. How is this possible?
Among them, if Lin Chen knew how EUV lithography machines achieved breakthroughs in previous generations, he would definitely be able to produce results quickly if he knew the correct research and development direction.
But the problem is that Lin Chen did not have an in-depth understanding of the technical knowledge of lithography machines in his previous life, and he did not know how ASML solved the many technical problems of EUV lithography machines in his previous life.
Under such circumstances, if Sugon Technology really develops EUV lithography machines, it will be very difficult and the results may not be produced within a few years.
That's why Sugon Technology is thinking about developing a fifth-generation immersion lithography machine that is easier to produce results, instead of developing a sixth-generation EUV lithography machine that may not be commercially available within a few years.
Of course, the most important reason is that the fifth-generation immersion lithography machine is actually sufficient. The fifth-generation immersion lithography machine technology can theoretically produce up to 7 nanometer chips.
This 7-nanometer chip is a real 7-nanometer chip with a gate length. It is not a 7-nanometer chip as it was in the previous life, but it is actually a 7-nanometer chip that modified the algorithm to deceive itself and others for marketing.
In the past, the most exaggerated process technology false standard was Sanxing's process technology. They once used a new algorithm to define the 10-nanometer process technology as a 7-nanometer process technology.
As a result, the Guotong company in the previous life really believed it, and was overjoyed to let Sanxing produce 7-nanometer mobile phone chips for Guotong.
It turned out that the fake ones were fake after all, and the name "Gautong Fire Dragon Processor" spread all over the world, directly causing the market share of Goutong mobile phone processors to experience a significant decline.
The Gaotong Company, which was deceived by Sanxing, naturally darkened its face, and the head of Gaotong publicly announced that it would no longer look to Sanxing to manufacture chips.
From then on, Sanxing faced a devastating blow in the semiconductor foundry industry and has never recovered.
So in this case, the fifth-generation immersion lithography machine that can produce up to 7 nanometer chips is actually sufficient.
In the next dozen years, Sugon Technology does not need to focus on the sixth-generation EUV lithography machine.
So at this time, if the joint R&D team of Xia Ke Academy and Sugon Technology successfully bypasses the technology patents of ASML and TSMC, then develop its own fifth-generation immersion lithography machine technology.
In the next ten years, they only need to continue to conquer material technology, processing precision technology and detection technology.
Then Daxia's chip manufacturing technology will break through 65 nanometers, 45 nanometers, 32 nanometers... and reach the highest level of 7 nanometer chips.
The reporters at the press conference did not know this. At this time, they were looking at Lin Chen and Dean Lu of Xia Ke Academy with shocked faces.
"Really or not? It's actually developing photolithography machines?"
"Holy crap, it turns out to be the research and development of photolithography machines. It is said that the research and development of photolithography machines is quite difficult. It is impossible to acquire this thing without billions or even tens of billions of Xia Yuan."
"Really or not? It's a joke, isn't it? Today is not April Fool's Day."
"This is a big deal. If it were true, it would be enough to shock the whole world."...
Many reporters at the scene started talking among themselves. Although they just heard a lot of words from Dean Lu, Dean Lu must not be joking.
But many reporters still feel a little unbelievable. After all, if you want to develop and conquer lithography machines, you have to spend at least billions of dollars to be qualified.
Faced with a research and development project worth at least a billion dollars, how can this not make people feel crazy and even wonder if Dean Lu is joking?
At this time, when people were surprised, Dean Lu turned to look at Lin Chen aside, and then said with a smile:
"As for the total R&D amount of our joint cooperation, let's leave it to Mr. Lin Chen."
The reporters who saw this scene all focused their attention on Lin Chen, and the cameras also focused on Lin Chen standing aside.
“The main investment in this lithography machine research and development project is our Sugon Technology. As for the amount of investment.
We can promise that the research and development funds for lithography machines in the next year will be no less than 3 billion Xia Yuan, and there will be no upper limit! "
"Wow!"
Hearing Lin Chen's words, the scene instantly erupted into a huge uproar. All domestic and foreign reporters at the scene opened their eyes wide and looked at Lin Chen in disbelief.
"Crazy, is Shuguang Technology crazy?"
"Oh my God? We spend 3 billion a year to develop lithography machines. Is this true?"
"It's crazy, it's crazy. 3 billion a year is equivalent to 360 million U.S. dollars. So much money ends up being used to develop a machine. This is really terrifying."
"It's really crazy to spend 3 billion a year just to develop a machine. How difficult is it to develop this lithography machine? Why does it cost so much?"
"Crazy, so crazy." (End of chapter)
